Student-loan scandal brewing?

College loans are a two-edged sword: They are essential to the process
that makes it possible for low- and middle-income students to go to
college.

The bad news is that they impose a crushing burden of debt on those
same students.

Surely there must be a better way of managing access to the colleges
and universities of the nation - a more humane dispensation under which
ability and achievement would count for more, and financial resources
for less.

At this point, however, the most we can hope for is that the system
will function with a reasonable degree of accountability and
integrity.

Unfortunately, and alarmingly, recent days have brought word of a
college-loan scandal that seems to be growing in severity and scope
with each passing day.

The story came to light in New York state, where investigators
learned that a federal Education Department official who supervises
lenders owns approximately $100,000 of stock in a student loan outfit.
That touched off an ominously expanding nationwide investigation into
the student loan industry, which has an estimated worth in the
neighborhood of $85 billion.

Already, the contagion has reached Texas. A University of Texas
official has reportedly attracted the attention of investigators for
alleged ties with lenders, and two other schools, Baylor and Texas
Christian University, are under scrutiny for possible kickbacks given
for steering students to a lending agency.

The mere fact that these allegations could be plausible enough to
touch off investigations is disturbing. The student-loan business is a
necessity, clearly - but ensuring that lenders are held to the highest
standards of integrity and openness is also essential. If that means
prosecutions of venal lenders and greedy college officials, so be
it.